Muir response

The excerpt from John Muir's writing was as comforting as it was disturbing. On one side, it was encouraging to see that as far back as the early 20th century, people had not only noticed and appreciated their surroundings, but taken an active stance in protecting them. On the other hand, it is troubling that such action needed to be taken, and that it bears such a resemblance to activity today. One might hope that we have since progressed considerably in our means of dealing with our environment and that new legislation is no longer needed for the protection of every species, but this is clearly not the case. Muir's consideration of the sequoias as potentially sentient--but mute--beings, with as much right to the land as ourselves, is powerful and striking. I imagine its impact would have been greater at the time of this item's publication, as now it seems a bit too romantically anthropomorphic to be taken seriously. Its intention, however, is well-founded and offers a helpful alternative means of considering trees or any other part of nature that we destroy for our convenience.